About

OUR TEAM

Tony Marchese, Owner

Tony Marchese, a Chicago native born into an Italian family, utilized his passionate spirit to achieve his first successful restaurant business at the age of 18. Tony wasn’t much for college so his father, who knew Tony had the determination and mindset needed to be a talented entrepreneur opened Village Pizzeria. After many years in that business, Tony branched out to utilize the skills he gained and extend his marketing savvy, by entering into a co-partnership agreement with Jeff Tessler. Together, they ran Vortex Nightclub, a 10,000-square foot 2 story nightclub which was voted top in the Chicago bar scene. To keep the innovation and creativity fresh, they partnered with Steve Abrams, formerly of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, and transformed a portion of the club into an upscale Brazilian restaurant, Rhumba, that became one of the Top 20 Best New Restaurants featured in Chicago Magazine.

Tony is not one to settle for mediocrity but didn’t want to work till 6am every weekend any longer. He wanted to utilize his sales and marketing skills; to serve others to a higher level, so he became a licensed real estate agent. After a couple of years, in typical Tony fashion, he partnered with Rich Asch and Michael Kennelly to form the Cardinal group and real-estate company specializing in new real-estate developments and condo conversions, after a few years they had grown to a level of agents and bought a Keller Williams real estate office and continued to grow and win top sales awards in their area for more than 15 years in the Chicago market.

At age 40, Tony decided to leave the cold and move to Palm Springs. He continued in real estate but realized that people come to Palm Springs for the experience, and his true passion was reborn in the restaurant business. He opened Trio restaurant, “Where Palm Springs Eats,” with Mark VanLannen in 2009. Mark decided to take a business turn toward a fine foods market and left Trio in 2017. TRIO has garnered recognition as one of Palm Springs’ top restaurants and hot spots by numerous lifestyle and travel publications and websites. Shortly after their grand opening, TRIO was named one of Palm Springs Best New Restaurants by Palm Springs Life Magazine in 2010. TRIO is also listed among TripAdvisor’s Top 10 Percent of Restaurants Worldwide, Open Table’s Top 100 Hot Spots in America, 2017 Expert Choice Award and is Zagat Rated as Very Good to Excellent. Since then Tony has also expanded his business opportunities into Liquid Catering- a full-service beverage and event catering business.

Tony is the co-producer, with Palms Springs Life Magazine, of the Palm Desert Food and Wine Festival, a weekend-long event with over 4000 guests and growing. He also serves on the boards of Palm Springs Hospitality Association, and AAP Food Samaritans charity.

Tony is very excited about his next venture, coming Fall 2017 in the heart of El Paseo in Palm Desert. Tony and award-winning Chef Andrew Copley and Juliana Copley of Copley’s on Palm Canyon are Creating AC3 Restaurant + Bar, New American Food with a Twist! Stay tuned for more!

MANAGEMENT TEAM

Nestor Ruiz, Executive Chef

With over 20 years of experience specializing in high-end steakhouses, including Morton’s of Chicago, Nine Steakhouse & Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Former executive Chef and Co-creator Of Mélange Restaurant at Lake La Quinta. Chef Nestor Focuses on creating exquisite meals while incorporating balanced flavors & aromas that are enhanced with distinct wine pairings.

Born in Guadalajara Mexico, Raised in our Beautiful Coachella Valley. Chef Nestor brings his home-grown Palm Springs talent to TRIO. He is a natural leader and talented Chef, providing guests with the freshest & locally sourced cuisine to provide a memorable dining experience.

Daniel Moore, General Manager

Daniel brings his 33+ years of experience to Trio after very successful tenures at Tony Roma’s, LG’s Prime Steakhouse and The Steakhouse at Agua Calinete Casino. Daniel’s focus has always been on the creating a memorable dinning experience for all his guests. His love and passion for wine is also reflected in the enhanced offerings on the Trio wine list.

Daniel is originally from Dearborn, Michigan and holds a degree in Restaurant Management from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. After living in Seattle and Los Angeles, he has called the Coachella Valley home since 1991.